Schedule announced for 2013 Amway Canadian Championship

The Canadian Soccer Association has announced the 2013 schedule for the sixth edition of the Amway Canadian Championship. The six-match schedule will once again feature the nation’s top-four professional clubs, with Vancouver Whitecaps FC, FC Edmonton, Toronto FC and Montreal Impact all playing for the honour to lift the Voyageurs Cup and represent Canada in the 2013-14 edition of CONCACAF Champions League.

Canada’s three MLS clubs will be ranked first, second and third based on the league’s 2012 regular-season standings. With one month to play Vancouver and Montreal are caught in a tight race for the top seed. The final 2012 Canadian ranking will be confirmed after the final 2012 MLS regular-season matches on 28 October 2012.

The 2013 Amway Canadian Championship features a one-vs-four and two-vs-three semi-final format. The four semi-final matches will be played on 24 April (first leg) and 1 May (second leg). Each home-and-away semi-final series will advance the team that scores the most goals over two matches. The two home-and-away final-series matches will then be played on 15 May (first leg) and 29 May (second leg). The champion will qualify as Canada’s representative for the 24-team CONCACAF Champions League competition, from which the 2013-14 CONCACAF champion then qualifies for the FIFA Club World Cup in 2014.

Through the first five editions of the Amway Canadian Championship, Montreal Impact were inaugural champions (2008) followed by Toronto FC who won the Voyageurs Cup in four successive seasons (2009 to 2012). In CONCACAF Champions League, both Montreal Impact (2008-09) and Toronto FC (2011-12) have reached the quarterfinal phase of the continental club championship.